Master of Strange Dao

No, it was him who was descending.

The space was continuously distancing, and the place he was in continued to sink.

Who knows how long it took, he couldn't see anything clearly anymore, with only the flowing light in sight.

His power, his body, all seemed to blend into the surrounding flowing light.

His consciousness slowly fell silent, his body began to crumble bit by bit, like a disintegrating sand sculpture, or like dispersing smoke.

It disintegrated and dissipated silently, leaving nothing behind.

Elder Zhang slightly bowed, putting away the book and the Big Seal he held.

"Thank you for going to your death."

Elder Zhang was satisfied, turned around, and left.

Jia Shisi looked at the remaining light circle there, slowly dissipating, he was somewhat dazed.

He had never seen Elder Zhang so confident...

It was as if from the very beginning, there was a certainty that slaughtering an Evil Dao was as simple as killing a chicken.

In reality, such one-sided crushing shouldn't be that easy.

This only signifies one thing, the fortune of Dadui now must have surpassed the strongest period experienced by his generation.

At least, it's comparable to the Bingyin Era, perhaps even rivaling the Yichou Era.

Only during that era could a Divine Dynasty official of Elder Zhang's status suppress a Ninth Tier Evil Dao within the borders of the Divine Dynasty, with nothing but a pure Divine Dynasty official identity.

Jia Shisi was somewhat dazed, unconsciously, had the fortune of Dadui recovered to such an extent?

Clearly... the number of strong individuals was far less than the Dingmao Era.

Then why is the fortune stronger than the peak of the Dingmao Era?

...

Outside Jiachen City, in the dungeon beneath the wilderness, the Evil Dao in the form of a youth was bound by his limbs, waist, neck, and head, fixed on the core of a formation.

Yu Ziqing held a teacup, moved a chair to sit outside, drinking tea, watching this youth.

A day passed, Yu Ziqing said nothing, but the youth couldn't help it anymore.

"Don't you want to know to what extent things have developed outside?"

"Didn't you say it's unstoppable? So I'm just here, waiting, waiting for the Great Mistake you spoke of to spread over the entire world."

"Do you really not want to intervene?" The youth couldn't hold back.

"Not to mention whether I can intervene, why should I?

You already said it, both choices lead to bad outcomes, why should I choose?

If I choose, it's destined not to satisfy everyone, whether I choose left or right, I will be resented.

Moreover, what qualifies me to make choices for everyone?

Did cultivating Evil Dao make you stupid? Do you really think one person can replace everyone?

Even if we don't consider ordinary people, we should consider those strong ones, right?"

Yu Ziqing spoke, pinched the chair, which instantly transformed into a recliner, he leaned back on it, adopting the posture of a laid-back fish, seemingly genuinely intending to do nothing.

As Yu Ziqing lay back, the developments outside indeed progressed as the Evil Dao youth said, just as Yu Ziqing predicted.

The Great Mistake, with West Qian as the center, using city after city as nodes, swiftly spread across the entire world.

It wasn't something passed from one person to another; instead, from a special perspective, it was as if the whole of West Qian was covered by an enormous and invisible rune, with a vast force invisible to humans, enveloping and infecting everyone, all living beings through the nodes.

Just a week had passed, and half of Dali's territory had fallen; even the post horses carrying messages were wilting, certain exotic beasts, certain alien clans, as long as their cultivation was within the Qi Refining framework, they would be affected.

On Daqian's side, disputes and investigations had not yet ended, and more than half of Dadui had already fallen.

The biggest impact was not on others but on those deans of Langya Institute who had yet to Enter Dao.

Theoretically, a Dao Cultivator who hasn't Entered Dao, even at the level of a dean, remains a mortal.

Now, after the spread of the Great Mistake, some deans who have not Entered Dao, attempting to start Qi Refinement, found even entry to be extremely difficult.

Three days into self-initiated entry, the Qi within suddenly collapsed, a wisp of Grey Qi erupted with blood.

"It's wrong, all wrong..." The dean seemed somewhat frantic, shouted and then fainted.

Following that, children infected by the Great Mistake began appearing in Jiadui City, Dadui.

The manifest was children training their bodies, and suddenly, their progress slowed down.

Furthermore, it wasn't just one or two, but batches appearing simultaneously.

The Great Mistake's impact on Dadui was, indeed, not substantial.

Due to the preferences of Emperor Dui, coupled with the fact that the initial stage of Body Refinement indeed consumes fewer resources, is lower in threshold, and offers better defense and thicker blood.

Lacking sufficient resources, aside from slower cultivation and less killing power, there were no other drawbacks.

And this was actually more suited for lower-level cultivators.

Everyone ate and drank as they should, a few families wishing to pursue Qi Refinement, once discovering the issue, would at most decide to go with the flow and pursue Body Refinement.

Only Daji and Daqian, even with the most Body Cultivators among the Three Divine Dynasties being at Dazhen, now were in a state of panic.

Within Lihuo Institute and Langya Institute, chaos ensued, with many deans researching why this was happening and how to resolve it.

For now, South Sea Island remained a paradise beyond the reach of worldly disturbances, and Elder Yang had already been in contact with Yu Ziqing.

Yu Ziqing had spoken honestly; it was beyond stopping, so they could only think of solutions.

Moreover, anything attempted now was futile; they might as well seek other breakthroughs first.

The breakthrough Yu Ziqing found was this Evil Dao youth.

An entire month passed with chaos outside, as cultivators of the first, second, and third tiers in Qi Refinement were all influenced, but Yu Ziqing never left.

He remained in the dungeon drinking tea, cultivating, and studying some documents.

A month later, the youth finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"You never publicly announced the message, did you?"

"Yes, and announcing it is pointless; it's better to say nothing.

Don't you want to cut off all hope of anyone embarking on the Qi Refinement Dao, sever the Evil Dao completely?

Then it's perfect; besides, I'm not a Qi Refining cultivator anyway.

With no Qi Refining cultivators, it's rightfully the time for Body Cultivation cultivators to rise, for Jinlan Mountain to truly rise.

The Evil Dao has been eliminated over time, and if Qi Refinement is eliminated too, that's normal."

Yu Ziqing spoke calmly, merely stating facts, neither joyful nor regretful.

But watching Yu Ziqing's demeanor, the youth's eyes began to turn red, his expression growing progressively menacing, and a dull growl rose from his throat.

"How dare you! How can you dare!"

Yu Ziqing glanced askance at the youth, took a sip of tea, and slowly set down the cup.

"Oh, so you weren't trying to stop everyone from Qi Refining?

I thought your goal was that.

Turns out your real aim is to ensure the portal is complete, to open it and welcome your master back.

Ha, I'll have to look down on you for that.

I thought you wanted to destroy everything, and I actually had a bit of respect for you.

Turns out you're just another brainwashed fool."

These words seemed to suddenly pierce the youth, a beast-like growl emerged from his throat.

Blood began to ooze from the corners of his mouth as the dull growl was gradually stifled back, reverting to a youthful voice.

"You mustn't let the portal be complete, that would bring back a deity from its peak period, unmatched in the current world."

The blood in the youth's eyes gradually faded as he watched Yu Ziqing calmly.

"The moment the portal completes, the moment it absorbs the Great Mistake, is the moment it opens.

All I wanted was to destroy the Evil Dao, sever its legacy entirely.

Whether the Qi Refinement Dao breaks or not, I don't care.

You have no choice, either the Qi Refinement Dao breaks, or everyone dies together."

Yu Ziqing sat up, having waited a month, finally reaching the part that interested him.

"I've always wondered, I carefully investigated, and no one possessed you, your Divine Soul, and consciousness are intact.

Yet you truly are just a teenager, how did you cultivate to Ninth Tier with a stable foundation?

Now it seems I've found the answer.

No wonder you vacillated between wanting me to choose left at times, and being anxious when I did.

Can you tell me what's really going on here?"